Tosin's Take

September and then some…

It’s been a minute hasn’t it? Actually it’s been a month or so… And my favourite month of the year, mainly because it is my birth month so I’m bound to have a bit of favouritism towards it aren’t I?

September usually brings new beginnings, a renewal of spirit as the old has passed and the fresh starts begin. This month followed suit perfectly. After the summer ended with  Big Chill festival, V festival and the biggest carnival party of the year Red Bull and Major Lazer (watch us wil’ out Here) I was assured that I received enough Red Stripe and VIP wrist bands to start an exhibition. September started with one more party before the real work and stress started.

The whole industry was out in force one school night in St Pancreas for the first of many nominations parties. Yes the MOBOs had arrived. And they arrived in style, a healthy flow of drinks, sprinkling of nibbles to keep our stomachs humbled and enough people in one room to have catch ups for days. It was great seeing so many faces in there, but only one in my mind is worth name dropping. After the party was drawing to a happy close, my inquisitive friend spotted D’banj enter the room and plenty ready made kokolets followed his trail. For once, I rid of all my principles and proceeded to snap a picture with him. My ‘I’m not queuing for a picture with a celebrity’ rule will only be broken for Kanye, Beyonce and Asher D. Yes I said Asher D, a part of my 13 year old self won’t go away! It was great seeing a African artist making such a buzz and being acknowledged, among others by the MOBOs. Wish I could of been there to witness the actual award show, where WizKid won the award, but maybe next year.

 One MOBO party later and suddenly the PinBoard team and I had 2 major jobs to complete. Firstly our first ever print job, a 6-8 page spread in Notion Magazine, who commissioned our small team of four to undergo a premium photoshoot and interview with Simon Cowells’ prized artist Labrinth. Secondly we set out to do our first ever event bringing Dutch soul guru’s Full Crate and Mar to the London public. It was a hectic couple of weeks, plenty of planning, organising and a great deal of emails.  Stress levels were high as were standards. Among all of that and our day jobs, we pulled it off. The event held at Red Bull studios with a mixture of industry, artists and readership was off the hook if I do say so myself. And I do. With a initial expectation of 150 guests, we rammed every corner of the gallery area and had over 250 guests. There was free drink, cupcakes galore and of course chooons. After all the meetings, we had in a short space of two weeks managed to pull #TheSuite off and deliver a success. Check out pictures here and look out for more from PinBoardLive in the coming year. A few days later, we had our deadline from Notion Magazine to deliver 6-8 pages of content and in the midst of this was my birthday (28th sept) and I went to Nigeria for a well deserved break too (29th sept) - Talk about squashing it together ‘ey. Working down to the wire, the team managed to meet the deadline and I’m looking forward to seeing the final results. I have always wanted to see my name in print so this is definitely a goal that I can tick off now. Make sure you cop a copy November 4th in your local WH Smiths and let me know what you think.

Turning 24 came around quickly and involved plenty of cakes, wine, good friends and a slumber party at the boutique apartments in the Townhouse Hotel. Yeah I was spoiled. Now back from my birthday celebrations, holiday and back in the swing of work, there is lots more to look forward to I’m sure before the end of the year. But here is something from a few weeks back, our exclusive session. No title credit for moi this time, as I was the acting PR for the session, but here is the LA band, J*DaVeY absolutely smashing their latest song ‘Queen of Wonderland’ courtesy of PinBoardFilm.

Beyonce, PinBoard Week & RIP Amy

So it’s been a minute right. Last left off with me eagerly anticipating Beyonce performing at Glastonbury. The genuine excitement I had leading up to Bey taking to the stage, you would of thought I was frontrow in the muddy field itself and not miles away in the comfort of my own home. Whilst watching the performance, all the annoying traits of Beyonce, (namely being completely perfect) went out of the window. The girl works HARD! It was seemingly noticeable after a hour and half on the Glasto stage, prancing, grinding, winding, singing, wailing and booty shaking her way through her set.

 Alot of the my Twitter timeline was a mass stream of praise, littered with a few crass digs and hater tweets to make sure we don’t all start hailing Beyonce. But despite this, most realised as she sang hit after hit and a couple of tracks from her new album 4, that her work ethic was quite extradionary and it’s inspiring to witness too. The past 10 or so years, all we have known from Beyonce is her craft, singing and performing. None of the usual scandals, public outbursts or social network beefs that most artists use these days to maintain exposure or to get a few column inches. In this day and age, that alone is impressive. 

 I was never a stan for Beyonce, but having all that in mind and then being lucky enough to attend her album launch held at Shepherd’s Bush Empire the next day, I have acquired a soft spot for her. Performing to hardcore fans, industry types and her fellow peers such as Adele, Jessie J and of course husband Jay-Z and Mama Knowles in tow, she took a moment to thank all for supporting her along the journey.

Everyone in the building from fans, to radio DJs, to fashion moguls all had deserved applause on offer to Beyonce. When we hold back the critiscm and anything else, the girl can sannnnng! Check a video from the night.

After the luck of seeing Beyonce, I kept ‘Diva Week’ going and saw Janet Jackson a few days later and she is amazing! Watching these women just reminded me of the hard work, passion and belief into your own career YOU have to see, before anyone else does sometimes. Who would of thought lil’ Janet, nothing but MJ’s baby sister, would have the longest and most successful career after the greatest popstar that ever lived? Who would of thought Janet would have had 33 number one hit singles spanning  across various music charts across North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Africa? Who would of thought? Maybe a few? Maybe no one? We will never know, but I’m pretty sure there was plenty belief in Janet’s mind of what she is capable of.

Once ‘Diva Week’ was over, I moved on to ‘PinBoard Week’. This is not an official term, it’s just something we dubbed a week when we took over our first home – Red Bull Studios and got to filming some of our favourite artists at the moment. 

We started with LA based alternative soul duo J*DaVeY and honestly I have to say they were one of the coolest bands/artists to hang out with. Tired but excited from their Amsterdam tour dates, the pair, joined by rapper Def Sound and their manager were a pleasure to accompany around London.  After some chit chat, we got down to business and the end result will be revealed in a few weeks. Once the hard part was out of the way, we hung out some more, grabbed some Indian food and generally had a giggle. Seriously, check  them out – Warner’s latest signing set to blow.

 In the same week, yep the SAME week we filmed our side project with some of our favourite artists that are new to the mainstream game. We filmed Ninja Tune artist Jono McCleery, EMI golden girl Emeli Sande and Universal’s soulful crooner, Daley. Check out the video below where I gain my first PRODUCER title. It’s always a honour to see your name not written by yourself! lol

Lastly after an eventful couple of weeks admiring so many female icons, grafting on their personal path of success, I was distraught to hear that one young lady’s road came to a sudden halt. On a typical Saturday afternoon, I checked my Twitter timeline to see tweets claiming that Amy Winehouse had died. Often these surges of tweet deaths occur and I take little notice. However, people who don’t usually involve themselves in such gossip and hearsay were tweeting the same thing. After a little of searching, I found out that on the 23^rd July 2011 Amy Jade Winehouse had passed away.

Publicly battling with drugs and alcohol abuse for a few years now, we all knew the addiction had overtaken her life and diverted her career off track. However, as a Christian girl at heart, I have always had a splinter of belief that even the worse affected can recover. Unfortunately as I was waiting patiently for another album and a restoration of the old Amy, the toxic substances had other ideas. It’s unfortunate to say the least that we saw this young star come to her destruction.

Seeing Amy in the flesh and literally searching HMV’s across London for her debut album, Frank, I thought I would share how I would like to remember Amy. This is the first ever glimpse of Amy that I saw. Such an authentically raw yet beautiful soul. 

                         Amy Jade Winehouse:: 14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011

YoYo, New Goals & How To Dress Well

I last left off preparing for the Joleon Davenue performance down at Notting Hill Arts Club and the surprise announcement that Q Tip would be DJing. And all bias aside, it was a great show. One filled with fresh new talent provided by Davenue and Ash Catch ‘Em and golden oldie Q. It was great to see how far hip hop has transcended genres and merged music listeners, but also crossed geographical borders. From the blocks of New York to the high street of Notting Hill - it’s come hella long way. Here’s a lil’ video put together from Flyprints blog of some of the night.

A great night was followed by a busy week or so, filled with road trips, meeting new people and some old. Being in various different social circles, often does not leave many topics in common, but one that can surpass most awkward silences is life goals. Whether you have none or you have many, there is always something to discuss, especially when you’re an eager twenty something.

For the longest time, mine was to go to university and get a 2:1 degree. Once that was acheieved, it was to get a job, now that has also been accomplished, so many other ideas have passed by my grey matter. Just a few of them are to acquire my very first byline in an established print (shout out to New Nation for giving me my first taste of byline hunger at 15) to starting up my own business, to tour managing have all crossed my mind as plausible next step prospects all in the name of music. Possibilities, as they say are endless. I guess it’s all about taking risks and making sure they pay off.

One person who is definitely taking risks is Tom Krell, otherwise known as How To Dress Well. The stage name alone, is a risk enough or at least one that owes alot of expectation. Although dressed (but not particulary that well - just saying) HTDW proved ultimately he is a risk taker when I saw him down at XOYO. Hailing from Brooklyn, studied in Germany and a philiosophy graduate he makes music that I’m still struggling to box. His attraction to me is his quirkiness, his voice, that sometimes cracks and wails, yet still somehow works. He engrossed me in his stage show not with the usual call and response, exciting light show or a barrage of dance moves, but rather his uncertain, uncompromising, introverted strangeness that oozed throughout the show. It is something you definitely have to witness yourself. I attempt to explore further in my review, but honestly I’m still trying to gather the right words to describe his mannerisms. Nonetheless, it was cool and made me re-believe in risks. You might not get them at first, but that’s the fun in them.

I’m off to watch another risk taker. The first women to perform at Glastonbury in its 41 year history, Beyonce. This should be good… join me

T x

Gigs, Mar & JoLeon Davenue

It’s been exactly one month since I last posted anything on here. That must be a sign of living a hectic life if ever there was one. So what has been keeping my time? Gigs, projects and birthdays have made up any spare free time I have in between working the day job. The little fractions left that makes up the rest of the day is filled with sleeping and eating (my daily intake of food has tripled, although thankfully my dress size hasn’t followed in the same vein).

This last month, I have been lucky enough to see Wiz Khalafia’s debut show in the UK, The Kooks comeback 3rd album show, Jamie Woon in Manchester, The 14th, True Tiger single launch party, Maverick Sabre headline London show and a few others along the way. I would have to say my favourite hands down, was Jamie Woon. Since seeing him, I have appreciated his debut LP and the time he took to perfect his craft alot more. Woon is a great example of someone who has consistently and still is working hard. Committed to putting out the music he believes in and consequently receiving the reward of making a living off said music. What a great feeling to have. I expect lots, lots more from the Woon for more years to come. Until then his work ethic is a constant reminder of how humble beginnings and steady progression can lead you to your dream job. 

Aside from gigs, I have been acting assistant editor, alongside @Def_Danny for Pinboard Blog (who were away on tour filming for a few weeks) making sure there is enough on the website, for you all to get a daily fix of good music. When we all did get back together, we managed to get hold of one of the most prominent future soul singers that is currently progressing the art of the songwriting. Amsterdam’s very own, Mar was in town for a couple of days, so we took an afternoon off to show him around the city, grab a bite to eat and film this intimate piece in the midst of our beloved fast paced city. Check it out and get to know more about Mar.

As much as I am enjoying the summer, my brain has already fast forward into the end of the year and the following years to come. Meaning preparing plans for forthcoming projects, events and anything else that comes my way. Looking forward to when those plans materialise and the final outcome arrives. Back to the present, JoLeon Davenue dropped this 7 track mixtape last week. ‘The New Mantra’ features Shakka and Marsha Ambrosius (Floetry) brother, Marvin. Give it a listen here. If you’re lucky enough to live in our crazy capital of London, you can catch Joleon performing at YoYos on Thursday 16th June. Details here and word has it, that Q-Tip is Djing straight after. Big!

T x

Pirates, Brouhaha & Mos Def

Last Monday was my good friend’s birthday which involved plenty drinks down at Shoreditch House, but preceding that, I took her to the private screening of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Strangers Tides at the Empire in Leicester Square. I was a fan of the first in the franchise, but never got round to watching the second and third, so I was looking forward to the film, having no prior expectations or major comparisons to deter me.

Although quite a long film, 2.5 hours to be exact, I really enjoyed it. Starting off a bit too slow for my liking, it was easy to grasp the storylines of the previous films that ties together the fourth instalment. The plot keeps your attention throughout, the action and fighting scenes brings to life the 3D dynamics to life and the cast is nothing less than stellar. If you get a chance to see it on the big screen, ladies look out Sam Claflin who plays handsome and often topless humble missionary Phillip, equally men obviously have Penelope Cruz to drool at. Cruz played Johnny Depp’s character Jack Sparrow, ex love interest, as the fesity Angelica and often times gave Sparrow a run for his money. Overall, you can’t go wrong with this film, it does what it has always done. Entertain.

If you’re still not convinced, check out the trailer below.

As I mentioned last time, alongside my a work colleague, I put on a new night called ‘Brouhaha’ down at the cosy venue in Camden ‘The Wheelbarrow’. For the first night in the forthcoming months, it went really well, if I say so myself. Thanks to all that came down, ‘preciate the support. And thank you to Rocky Nti, Good Dangers and Grand Forever. If you missed these great acts, then be sure to check them out and also to put June 8th in your diaries for the next summer instalment of Brouhaha.

I ended my week being invited down to the VIP Launch in association with Ben Sherman party in the coolest venue in East London XOYO with Mos Def headlining. No, it wasn’t just another launch/release/social gathering for no apparent reason - not that there is anything wrong with any of the above. This time round, the reason for 500 of us press/industry types all to gather was to provide awareness and raise money for two charities: Trekstock and Life Beat. Both involve young people but Trekstock focuses their attention in helping young people with Cancer. Whilst Life Beat uses music as the tool to educate youngsters about HIV. Through selling collector’s items, plectrums and plaques signed by the likes of Duran Duran and James Blunt, the night had a great cause behind it.

After taking advantage of the complimentary bar, goody bags and a chance to catch up with people and some old school hits played by The Clash’s resident DJ, 6Music’s Huey Morgan (who I absolutely heart!) introduced Mos Def who came on stage just after 10pm. Dressed impeccably, in a beige/concrete shade suit and red shirt, he came on energetic and the crowd was ready for some Mos.

Swag in complete tow, he went through classics, Black star material and of course the latest LP. Highlights of the night included the extended version of the Slick Rick collobo ‘Auditorium’ taken from The Ecstatic. As well as the classic ‘Umi Says’. It was a great night and I will be sure to support the cause in future.

T x 

Also if you’re a fan of Black Milk, be sure to grab your tickets for his live show on Sunday 22nd May at XOYO from HMV or the homie Soul Beautiful. x

Odd Future, Royal Wedding Bank Holiday & more Odd Future

Every eye and camera lense was focused on our little island this past weekend due to the royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton. But every hip hop head in London had their focus on Tyler, the Creator and his pack of wolves from the minute they touched British soil.

As there was another bank holiday weekend, on Thursday I headed down to Yoyos - common play ground for all music types situated over in Notting Hill, as Syd, the only female in OFWGKTA (if you never heard of them - Google ‘em) was scheduled to dj. The night started out well, my friends and I were enjoying the vibe, the fact that there was no work the next day and anticipating the acts of the night. After a while, there were more and more people gravitating towards our corner of the room. It didn’t take us long to realise Tyler and his homies, Left Brain and Hodgy Beats were sitting next to us. Despite their crazy, wild personas, after talking to them, they seem like cool guys who seem to be enjoying this new world wide bubble of fame and just want to have fun.  And surprisingly, whilst enjoying the night, they clamoured onto the small stage and performed two tracks to end the nights performances. The crowd welcomed them the only way that Odd Future would accept - straight up moshing! It was definitely a great night, fellow XL label mate Adele was in attendence, as too Mark Ronson, among others who all realised that Odd Future have truly arrived.

Completely parallel worlds to the extreme moshing of Notting Hill, Friday saw the whole world watching the wedding of the decade. Although I admit, I didn’t watch the whole wedding live, I caught the main highlights, the outfits and THAT dress later when my closest girlfriends and I had a royal wedding themed bbq/tea party. Corney. I know, but it was all apart of the fairytale atmosphere that was circulating in the air.

Saturday and Sunday saw crowds crawling around Camden, from the corner of Koko all the way to the standing ground of the Roundhouse, all apart of the Camden Crawl. The festival brings together all the major venues and small pubs, bars and clubs to open their doors for upcoming bands and Dj’s from rock, to indie to drum and bass. Being a sunny day on Sunday, I went down to the Red Bull Arena pop up stage in the hub of Camden High Street. At approximately 4.20pm Odd Future took to the stage. At roughly 5pm, they basically caused a riot.

The 200-300 or so people, that witnessed the group go against protocol, climb the stage, crowd surf, and stage dive, I’m sure will not forget that performance in a hurry. Thursday was surely the warm up for this. My Pinboard family literally could of died (or at least seriously damaged their expensive lenses lol) for this footage. Take a moment and watch the madness….

Later the same evening, a couple of us headed to a cosy bar in the middle of Soho to support our new friends, Vintage Trouble. After performing on Jools Holland a couple of weeks ago, the band have stuck around the city and invited us down to the videoshoot. Hailing from LA, the band is a refreshing mixture of authetic soul, blues and rock, fronted by charmastic lead singer Ty Taylor and produces nothing less than “Live-wired, straight shootin, dirty mouth’d, pelvis pushing juke music.” The shoot, which was just a party will be the video for “Blues Hand Me Down”. Not sure if we will get that cameo spot we were banking on, but will definitely post it up as soon as it hits the ‘tube.

T x

Ps: Just a few events:

If you like a mixed bag of music, then come down to ‘Brouhaha’ and say HI on May 11th. It’s completly free all night and details can be found here.

Lastly, my Liverpudlian friend and all round grinder Mr Yaw Owusu sent this over to me. Seem to have a good British oriented lineup, so if you are in those neck of the woods, details are as follows.

BBQ’s, Jools Holland & One Mic

How nice has it been in London town recently? The bank holiday time off has been even more glorious with the inclusion of the sunny weather. Thanks to this, over the weekend, my friend decided to have an impromptu BBQ on the rooftop of her lovely apartment. If you follow me on Twitter, you will know that the rooftop became my unwanted temporary home for 3-4 hours. My friend cleverly locked the door behind her so we were literally stuck on the roof, four storeys high.

At first, I wasn’t too quick to complain, we had plenty of food, iphones for entertainment and the sun was still gleaming. Then with the same great timing and comedy material as a TV show, the thunder clouds appeared and the rain started to trickle down. Sod’s law. Partially soaked, but in good spirits, we eventually were rescued by her housemate who thankfully came back from work on time.

Shortly after, I headed to meet some friends to see in our very own drummer boy’s birthday, Samson Jatto. I’ve known him for a few years now and having been obsessed with all things drums related for as long as I can remember, it was inevitable that at most Samson and I would get on. At least, I would pester him about drum related questions. Over the years, it has been a mixture of both.  This week, I was pleased for him, guitarist Joe and my best friend for the last 13 years, Chantelle Nandi as they headed down to BBC TV Centre on Tuesday to perform on my favourite television music show Jools Holland this week.

The three of them were alongside the recent Universal signing Maverick Sabre, who is an Irish raised, London born singer and guitarist. Appearing on such a long standing establishment that is Jools Holland is a great accomplishment for any artist and acts as an immediate endorsement for long term career. You can catch the whole show here (UK only) which features Fleet Foxes, KD Lang, Hugh Laurie and a couple other acts.

Here is one of the songs which feature the whole band.  Joe: MPC Samson: Drums Chantelle: Backing Singer.

Such a proud moment.

On Sunday, I went down to support my fellow blogger friend We Plug Good Music, and the event that his team put on down in Camden Town, One Mic. Unlike alot of events for unsigned artists, it is one that is not genre specific. The focal point is to mimic the blog and remain committed to showcase talent that the team enjoy. I believe performing at small gigs such as One Mic is important for upcoming artists. Especially gigs that don’t usually draw in your usual crowds. I’m a firm believer that artists should play to new audiences, go out of their comfort zone a bit and may have more success that way.

Unfortunately I did not stay the whole night, but from what I did see, Yorkshire bred Belle was a treat to watch as always, with her deep husky tones and raw passionate songs. I discovered Belle when I booked her for a gig I organised last year at Charlie Wrights and still enjoy hearing what she has to offer.

Another act that caught my ear, was Jesse Gamage. As his set began, my attention was caught by his song “3 Meals A Day”. The humbling confession was endearing and paired with his honest gravel toned vocals subtly shouted out soulful. Gamage contiued his set with his vulnerable manner and guitar lead, even covering Ed Sheeran’s ‘You Need Me’. As I left, I made sure I remembered his name, as I’m keen to see what the future will hold for him.  

T x

Record Labels, Raphael Saadiq and Record Store Day ‘11

April has been a great month so far and the weather has been perking up in London town too. Started the month off, landing many people’s dream job working at a major record label, EMI. Very, very grateful to be in such a position, in such a economy and within less than a year of graduating. Honestly can’t believe it happened. Now onto the next goal.

A couple of weeks ago, the coolest music blog this side of the Atlantic, if not the world (and Yes I am bias) Pinboard Blog, which I have the pleasure of being apart of the family, filmed the soul legend that is Raphael Saadiq. It was the 5th episode of our unique partnership with Red Bull Studios London, where we film the hottest talent and acts that we think are just straight up dope!

It was a pleasure to be in the presence of such a G, grown man status and hear, feel and watch the musical library that is instilled in him. When filming him, in between takes, Saadiq would break out into old classics as well as modern songs, even at one point Diddy’s ‘I Need A Girl’.

From Tony Toni Tone to Lucy Pearl to the production/writing credits on one of the best D’Angelo songs of all time - ‘Untitled’ I was in awe. Check out the video. Shout out to our inhouse production team, Pinboard Film.

Saturday 16th April was the worldwide event - Record Store Day. A chance for small and at times struggling record stores to step into the limelight. Some friends and I heading down to some shops from Rough Trade East in the midst of Brick Lane, to CAMP where Gilles Peterson’s very own label Brownswood held a spot. Unfortunately I missed alot of the DJ sets and performances I planned to see (Obenewa, Jamie Woon, Ghostpoet), but nonetheless saw plenty of people out and about stocked with loads of special edition and collectable vinyl. It was a great cause to step out for, enjoy some classics, get around some vinyl and a step closer towards having that DJ status that I have always dreamt about lol.

T x